Our Last Battle - (5)

 FIVE – THE KING’S ANGER GROWS

As Tirian and Jewel contend with Roonwit over the centaur’s warning of not to believe the lie that Aslan has returned, their ears are arrested by a Dryad’s wailing, crying for justice from the King. Her brothers and sisters, Narnian trees in Lantern Waste, are being cut down, murdered. Tirian’s reaction is to draw his sword. 

Note that the King has gone from putting his hand on his sword in anger toward Roonwit, to now drawing his sword in response to the Dryad’s news.

When the Dyad falls dead in great pain, indicating that her tree in Lantern Waste has also been cut down, Tirian’s grief and anger are so great that he can’t speak. Then, when the King calls on Roonwit and Jewel to come with him to Lantern Waste and confront the enemy perpetuating the murders, Roonwit counsels, “Sir, be wary even in your just wrath.”

Roonwit further counsels Tirian to wait until they gather reinforcements, for after all, there are only three of them and there are likely many villains to confront. Tirian, however, will not wait, but as he and Jewel make their way to Lantern Waste, he sends Roonwit to Cair Paravel for help. 

Lewis tells us that as the King hurries to help the Narnian trees that he is muttering to himself and clenching his fists, his anger is burning, he is driven by anger. When they ford the cold waters of a river Tirian is so angry that he hardly notices how cold the water is. Again, he is propelled by anger, fueled by anger. 

After an encounter with a Water Rat who tells them that their arch enemies, the Calormenes, are the ones felling the trees, Jewel and the King both become so angry that they can’t think clearly, which leads us to a key statement by Lewis in this chapter, and indeed in the entire book: “But much evil came of their rashness in the end.” 

The chapter concludes with Jewel and Tirian killing two Calormenes who have enslaved a Narnian horse. “The King’s sword went up, the Unicorn’s horn went down.” Jewel gored his opponent and Tirian beheaded his enemy. 

Note the progression of Tirian’s anger with his sword; first he lays his hand on the sword in his anger toward Roonwit, then he draws his sword in his anger at the news Dryads are being murdered, then he beheads an enemy with the sword to conclude the chapter. As noted previously, Tirian’s anger is mentioned at least ten times in this chapter, which is titled The Rashness of the King. 

Tirian rejected Roonwit’s counsel not to believe the lie about Aslan. Then the King rejected Roonwit’s counsel to be wary of his anger. Much evil would come of Tirian’s rashness, much sorrow, and much harm to his people. 

O dear friends, can we learn from Lewis’s warning about anger? Anger propels us on a trajectory of sorrow and hurt. When we become people of anger we hurt others in our self-righteousness, we ingest poison into our souls, we spread toxicity to those around us, we communicate spiritual and moral disease and death. 

The People of Christ are to be those who belong to the sacrificial Lamb, the Prince of Peace. We are called to be peacemakers. Our gentleness is to be known to all people. We are to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes” rather than take the lead in anger. We are not to call down fire on others, but we are to remember whose Spirit lives within us. 

The Scriptures teach us that Christ has made us a royal priesthood, we are kings and priests in Christ. If this is so, then we ought to be aware that godly kings do not rule and operate out of anger, but in peace and equity and wisdom. 

When we find ourselves drunk with anger we need to check ourselves into a detox center, and the detox center focuses on Christ Jesus the Lamb and our submission to His Word. The detox center reminds us of the character of our Father and Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, it reminds us that we are not of this world. 

The cup of anger is the cup of Satan, the cup of deceit. The alcohol may be mixed in sweet fruit punch so that we won’t taste it, it may be easy for us to drink, we may justify a drink here and a drink there, but before we know it we have turned the jug upside down and we no longer control the drink, the drink controls us – we are fools. 

Our Last Battle includes our battle with anger. If anger wins, then we lose. If we learn to submit to the peace of Christ, allowing His peace to rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15), then we have hope and the possibility that we can help others, that in Christ we can save others from the chaotic hell around us. 

Tirian’s anger blinded him to the character of Aslan, it blinded him to the wise counsel of Roonwit, it blinded him to the Word of Aslan as portrayed in the heavens, it blinded him to good judgment, it impeded his ability to save his people. We cannot see clearly when we are angry; we hurt ourselves and others and bring shame to Jesus Christ when we act like fools.

The people around us need the peace of Jesus Christ, they do not need our self-righteous anger, be it religious or political. 

Many of us are fond of quoting Isaiah in saying that a time will come when people will call good evil and evil good. Yet, we do the very same thing when we call anger good and peace evil. Why don’t we see this? It is because we are losing our Last Battle, it is because we are drinking the cup of the enemy and we are too drunk to know it. Isn’t it about time we sobered up and began living for Jesus and others? 

Godly courage is exemplified by the Cross, not by the sword. 

“And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony [of the Lamb], and they did not love their life even to death [just as the Lamb]” (Rev. 12:11). 

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24 – 25). 

How are we doing with our Last Battle with anger? 

Do we really want to live and die as an angry people? 

The Royal Inclusio - Love (11)

We have asked three questions regarding the love of John 15:12 – 17: What does this look like in the church? What does this look like in my own life? What does this look like in my family?

We’ve pondered the second question, now let’s consider the third. There are two elements to the question of what loving one another as Jesus loves us looks like in our families. The first is obvious, the second may not be. 

Do we, within our families, love one another as Jesus loves us? Do we practice laying our lives down for one another? At the same time, we should ask whether our families, as family units, are laying their lives down for others outside their families. 

What I mean is that just as individuals are called to love others as Jesus sacrificially loves them, so families are called to love others as Jesus sacrificially loves them (and of course the same is true of congregations and denominations and other associations in Christ). Self-centeredness within families and congregations is idolatrous just as self-centeredness in individuals is idolatrous. The Nature of God is loving and self-giving, therefore if the Nature of God abides within us and in our relationships in Christ, then those relationships ought to display the self-giving and sacrificial love of God, the love that lays down its life for its friends. 

This can be a difficult thing to wrestle with in our self-centered culture, for we have been taught, within and without the professing church, to rationalize our selfishness. We have erected our own images of spiritual health and success in place of the Lamb of God. We have substituted our own images of righteousness for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There have been many things God has given us for our good that we turned into bronze serpents.

Rather than on mission to share Jesus Christ with the world, our mission has become our own self-improvement, our own blessing, and perpetuating our own kingdoms. Our center of gravity is us as individuals, is us as families, and is us as congregations (and denominations and movements). 

This, my friends, is opposed to our text (John 15:12 – 17), it is opposed to the Upper Room, the Gospel of John, the life of Jesus Christ, and to the Message and Call of Scripture. 

The Good News is that because our heavenly Father knows each of us, and because He loves us so deeply, He will guide us out of our individual and collective self-centeredness if we will ask Him for help. And let’s remember, it must always begin by looking in the mirror – it must begin with me, always with me. I must never look at another person, whether it be my wife, other family members, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and think, “If only that person would change!” 

O my how we lie to ourselves! My love for Christ and others, and my obedience to Jesus Christ, is at the core of the Royal Inclusio. I am called to lay my life down for others, I am not called to manipulate others to lay their lives down for me. 

Let’s make no mistake that we are talking about the Cross of Jesus Christ working itself out in our lives – and the Cross means crucifixion. We must not spare ourselves, our families, or our congregations from the Cross – not if we truly love them. We must not be like Peter when he attempted to shield Jesus from the Cross (Matthew 16:21–23). Do we realize this? O pastors, you are doing your congregations no favors when you shield them from the Cross of Christ. We are called to participate with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion (Galatians 2:20; 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:11–12; Romans Chapter 6). 

When the Cross of Christ and the Christ of the Cross ceases to be our center of gravity, and is displaced by self-centeredness, including familial, congregational, institutional, and political and nationalistic self-centeredness, we have made our own golden calves. 

Radical? Why of course it is radical. It is radical because the love of Jesus Christ is radical. This is the Love that is our calling into eternity…and if we are not living for eternity then we are a foolish people. Are we ashamed to live for eternity? Are we ashamed to live for Jesus?

Are we not a collective expression of the Rich Young Ruler? Unwilling to give what we cannot keep to gain what we cannot lose? 

If we are not teaching our families this love by the way we live, why not? If our families are not teaching others this love by the way they live, why not? If our churches and denominations and movements are not displaying the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, why not?

Jesus will teach us His Way of Life, His Way of Love, His Way of giving. We can trust Him to teach us today, tomorrow, and into eternity. He calls us into the deep koinonia of the Trinity, a koinonia of sacrificial love and kindness and grace and joy. We cannot do this in and of ourselves, but as we abide in the Vine, O yes, as we abide in the Vine, He will teach us to lay down our lives for others as He laid down His life for us. 

There is no greater love than this!